How do we help? Where do we begin?
I’m sitting at my desk this morning and thinking about this pandemic. For the most part everyone is reaching out to one another for connections in these difficult times. That’s a good thing. We have our families, our friends, our co-workers and are truly sharing the same experience around the world that, maybe for the first time ever, we can understand the fear and worries of our fellow man because we have them, too.
And please be sure to stay connected with those you know who live alone.
I certainly understand the need for connection. In fact, my friend Dr. Kathleen Brehony wrote a book some years ago about connection, Living a Connected Life. The wisdom in the book truly helped me understand the importance of social connections and the problems caused without it.
What about the large population of homeless people in the world? And particularly in these stressful days?
Although they do have a certain connectedness in their communities, what happens when a pandemic such as the Coronavirus takes hold? Not all homeless populations go to homeless shelters but for those who do their presence and connection is more important than ever. But for those who don’t have homeless shelters and certainly don’t access internet, they learn about it on the streets. And yet for even others, perhaps they don’t find out about it at all.
Our government is sending money to vulnerable workers, bailing out the airlines, helping small businesses and the list goes on? Who’s helping the homeless and how?
Homeless outreach workers say they are struggling to get critical information about the virus to homeless people who are without the Internet and, in many cases, unaware of the dangers posed by the coronavirus. At the same time, several large shelters have told federal officials that the volunteers they depend on are staying home at a worrisome rate and cannot be replaced…
Washington Post
March 15, 2020
I realize I don’t have the answers and am only asking the questions. But I do know that I can do my part in some small way by posing the questions and asking to connect with those of you are as concerned as I am.
Here’s some suggestions for helping the homeless.
- DONATE to your local homeless shelter. As a person who works in non-profit, it’s always about money.
- Gather some foods that you could donate. I know we are social distancing, but you could take some in a box and perhaps even leave it somewhere where it will be noticed.
- Are you cleaning closets? Donate the clothes to a local shelter.
- Drop off flu and cold medicines at a shelter but call first to see they accept it.
- Get a box and put in clean blankets, soap and a flyer about the virus with instructions on what they can do to stay safe. So many live on the streets, encourage them on the flyer to the local shelter or whatever your community offers the homeless.
At the end of the day, we are all humanity and we are all in this together.
Be safe and stay well.
President/CEO Women Like Us Foundation